Right Next Door
by TitansRule
Summary: Lindsay finds out something distressing, Jess finally tells Don why she broke up with her ex and Don explains what any of this has to do with high school. Story #39 in my 'Kindred Spirits' series.


**Disclaimer: I don't own CSI:NY. I do own Philip, but you can borrow him if you want and beat him up a little.  
****Series: 'Kindred Spirits'.  
****Spoilers: **_**Right Next Door**_**; brief mention of **_**Consequences**_**.**

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Right Next Door

Jess wasn't entirely sure how the conversation had progressed to resolving a missing child case to both of them laughing hysterically on the floor next to her couch, but she didn't care; she couldn't remember the last time she laughed this hard, or the last time she'd seen Don this _happy_, something she blamed fully on Devon.

But their laughter was cut short when someone began banging loudly on her door.

Wiping tears of mirth from her eyes, Jess managed to clamber to her feet and open it, only to stumble backwards when Lindsay threw herself, sobbing, into her arms.

The humour in the room evaporated instantly and Don sprung to his feet, steadying Jess. "Linds?"

"What happened?" Jess asked urgently. "Is it Danny?"

Lindsay nodded, crying too hard to answer.

"Is he hurt?" Don asked, reaching for his phone.

But Lindsay shook her head, and Jess led her over to the couch, giving Don a quelling glance over her shoulder.

"What happened, Lindsay?" Jess asked softly, although she already had a pretty good idea; the shock in Lindsay's eyes was stiflingly familiar.

Lindsay shook her head again, taking gulps of air as she tried to calm down.

"Don," Jess said quietly, "could you get her a glass of water?"

"Sure." Don disappeared into her kitchen for a few seconds and reappeared with a drink, which Jess took carefully and held to Lindsay's lips. "Here, sweetie, drink this. Sip not gulp."

Lindsay drank the water slowly and her breathing became steadier.

"Alright, Lindsay," Jess tugged the glass out of her hand, "what happened?"

"Danny and I had a … a disagreement at work today." Lindsay said softly. "He thought I was upset because he couldn't meet for lunch … like I was one of those shallow, clingy girls …"

"Linds, Danny knows you're not like that." Don told her. "I'm sure he didn't mean it like that; it was a tough case …"

"That's what I thought." Lindsay agreed. "So after work I stopped by his apartment to apologise for biting his head off and …" Her voice, which had gotten stronger, faltered. "The walls are pretty thin. He was with Rikki Sandoval."

"Ruben's mom?" Jess closed her eyes, knowing what was coming. "Oh, Danny …"

"What?" Don asked blankly. "The woman lost her son; it makes sense Danny would comfort her."

"Don …" Jess sighed, shaking her head. "I think Lindsay means he was _with_ her."

"You mean," Don said slowly, "he was …"

"Screwing her." Lindsay finished emotionlessly. "Cheating on me. Yes."

Don stood up. "You should both know," he announced, "he's a dead man."

Jess caught sight of Lindsay's expression and rose as well, catching his arm. "No."

"Jess!" Don protested.

"Please don't." Lindsay whispered. "I didn't come here to find someone to beat him up. I came for a shoulder to cry on. I'm not mad, just upset."

"How can you not be mad?" Don demanded.

"Don, calm down." Jess told him. "I'm sure Linds has a reason."

"I'm not mad, because I know it's natural that Rikki wants comfort." Lindsay explained.

"I get that, Linds." Don sighed. "I do. But that doesn't mean that Danny …"

"Danny still blames himself for what happened." Lindsay interrupted. "So he doesn't feel like he can push her away. I get it."

"But understanding doesn't make it hurt any less." Jess sympathised, rubbing her back soothingly. "Flack, sit down. Linds, you wanna stay here tonight?"

Lindsay shook her head. "Thanks, but I'll be alright."

"Are you sure?" Jess asked, giving Don another look that made him sink back into an arm chair.

Lindsay nodded and Jess gave her a hug. "Alright. Don't do anything stupid."

"I won't." Lindsay promised.

"You need anything, Linds, let me know." Don told her quietly, kissing her cheek.

"I will." Lindsay managed a weak smile and then slipped out of the apartment.

Jess collapsed onto her couch with a sigh. "Don't …" She warned.

"Don't what?" Don asked darkly.

"Don …" Jess narrowed her eyes.

"Jess, give me one good reason why I shouldn't go over there and knock Danny's head off his shoulders!" Don demanded.

"She asked you not to?" Jess suggested.

"Other than that." Don retorted. "Lindsay's confused; she doesn't know what she wants."

"Oh, and you do?" Jess rolled her eyes. "Look, she's upset and hurt and, yeah, I'm mad at Danny, but hurting him isn't going to help her. Believe me, I know."

This cut through Don's rage and he stopped pacing immediately. "Personal experience?"

Jess sighed. "You remember after Truby went down? I told you I knew what it was like to realise something that should have been painfully obvious. And when my ex called … and when I said that I was surprised some guys needed help cheating … We started dating in my senior year, then we graduated, I joined the Academy … I guess I should have realised … he was always working late, or cancelling dates or … it wasn't until I walked in on him screwing my room-mate on the couch that I accepted it." She laughed humourlessly. "He told me to 'get over it; it's not like it means anything'. Didn't even stop."

"You got a name so I can visit him after I go see Messer?" Don asked.

"Don, Matt beat him up." Jess told him. "I didn't feel any better and neither will Lindsay."

"Name." Don repeated.

"Philip Walters." Jess told him. "Now drop it. I'm completely over it now."

"You sure?" Don asked, sounding unconvinced.

"He wanted to get back together when he called." Jess stated flatly. "If I wasn't over it and him, I'd have agreed in a heartbeat."

"He was an idiot." Don told her with feeling.

"How did you get there?" Jess asked curiously.

"You remember high school?" Don asked in response.

Jess frowned lightly at the apparent change in subject. "Yeah. Why?"

"Well, in high school, there's normally a spectrum of girls, right?" Don explained, moving from the arm-chair to sit beside her. "At one end you've got the head cheerleader. Beautiful, sexy, unattainable … the girl all the guys want to date and all the other girls want to be. Unfortunately, she's also usually a bitch, right?"

"She was in my school." Jess snorted.

"And mine." Don remembered. "At the other end of the spectrum, there's the sweetest girl ever. And she's compassionate and generous and mothers meet her and say to their sons, "She's lovely; why can't you date _her _instead of that cow?" But she's not the prettiest girl in the world so the boys overlook her, but they shouldn't, because they're beautiful on the inside and that's what should count."

"Okay." Jess said slowly. "I'm still not sure how this ties into my ex being an idiot."

"Because he had both." Don answered with a soft smile that sent her stomach into an impressive display of cartwheels. "You're the best of both; he was the luckiest guy in the world and he gave it up. And that makes him an idiot." He cupped her face and, for a heart-stopping second, she thought he would kiss her, but he didn't. "Promise me," he whispered, "that you'll never let that prat make you doubt how special you are."

"I promise." Jess murmured.

"Good." Don kissed her forehead. "Now, I don't care what Linds said, I'm gonna go give Danny a piece of my mind."

Jess didn't argue this time, frozen in place as he left her apartment. Don had never lied to her, ever, and she trusted his word implicitly.

But that didn't stop the small voice in the back of her mind that whispered, _"If being with you makes someone the luckiest guy in the world, why is he still with Devon?"_

She toyed with the idea of asking him, but decided against it. _I don't think I want to know._

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**AN: I'm not entirely happy with Lindsay in this, but she wouldn't come any other way. Question: Do you want Don to meet Philip and if so, which episode? It can't be one I've already done. Review please!**

**Oh, and if there are any head cheerleaders - or cheerleaders in general - reading this, I apologise for generalising; it just works for the story.**


End file.
